Olympia Update No.
15 for the 2002 Legislative Session
April 5, 2002
From: Larry Ganders,
Assistant to the President
925 Plum St. SE - Building 4, P.O. Box 43165, Olympia, WA 98504-3165
Click Here, For the latest status of legislation affecting WSU
GOVERNOR VETOES RECRUITMENT
AND RETENTION FUNDING
More than $1.7 million in funding that was provided to Washington State University to recruit and retain faculty members was vetoed today by Gov. Gary Locke. The decision at the final end of the state budget process now means that net cuts to WSU in the coming fiscal year will total 7.7 percent of its state general fund budget, compared to a budget proposed by the Legislature that cut 6.9 percent.
This latest political blow to the higher education system came today as the governor made a series of partial vetoes to Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6387, the supplemental operating budget. Total cuts to WSU in this final budget now totals $16.2 million, $3.2 million more in cuts than the governor’s own budget recommended. The final budget is worse than the $11.8 million in cuts recommended by the House Appropriations Committee but better than $19.5 million in WSU cuts proposed by the state Senate.
The governor’s decision was made despite the pleas of many people from the higher education community, including the Associated Students of Washington State University. They argued to retain the language in the bill. However, the governor’s staff said the vetoes were necessary to replace about $30 million in funding lost when the Legislature adjourned without passing a liquor tax increase.
The decision means that while community college faculty pay will be increased 3.6 percent, there is not expressed funding provided for any employees at the state’s four-year colleges and universities. It undoubtedly will put more pressure on institutions to raise resident undergraduate tuition to the maximum 16 percent allowed by the Legislature to try to deal cuts to funding.
Student financial aid bill also falls victim to the governor’s veto pen.
Substitute House Bill No. 2914, a bill that passed each house of the Legislature without a single vote against it, has been vetoed Locke.
Originally introduced by House Higher Education Chair Phyllis Kenney, D-Seattle, the bill was supported by WSU, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, and the Washington Student Lobby.
The measure was to have created a new account to receive financial aid funds that were appropriated by the legislature but left unspent at the end of the fiscal year. Those monies are returned to the state general fund to be spent anywhere in state government. A relatively small amount of funding is left over at the end of the year, and the bill would have ensured that the funds remain for student financial aid. Students that could have benefited from this bill included recipients of the state need grant program, state work study, Washington Scholars, and the Washington Award for Vocation Excellence.
Left-over funds would have to be released by the governor’s budget office in order to be spent. However, the governor complained that no additional action by the Legislature was required. “I support increasing financial aid for Washington college students,” he said. “However, the legislative budget process should decide how much financial aid the state can provide compared to other financial demands in state government,” the governor wrote in his veto message.
He said the bill would allow general fund-state dollars to lapse into a non-appropriated account, effectively removing such funds from legislative budget deliberations. That would set an undesirable precedent.”
The bill passed the state House of Representatives 94-0 on Feb. 17 and cleared the state Senate 47-0 on March 8.
Governor signs
faculty collective
bargaining legislation
Vetoes requirement to abolish the
faculty senate.
House Bill 2403, legislation that allows university faculty member to collectively bargain was signed into law this week by Gov. Gary Locke. The Legislature had amended the bill in two separate sections to require faculty members abolish their Faculty Senate shared governance process. The governor vetoed both sections of that bill using his partial veto authority. In his veto message, the governor dismissed the incompatibility of faculty collective bargaining co-existing with a Faculty Senate.
“The functions of the faculty governance system and collective bargaining are separate and distinct,” the governor wrote. “Faculty governance systems advise the universities on issues pertaining to curriculum development, content of courses and other issues that are prohibited subjects of collective bargaining under section four of this bill. Collective bargaining addresses issues such as wages and terms and conditions of employment,”
he said.
The governor concluded that, “Neither system is equipped to fill the role of the other.” WSU did not take a position on the enabling legislation during the session although it was opposed by the WSU Faculty Senate. Faculty throughout the state making up the Council of Faculty Representatives or CFR, endorsed the bill.
Veto messages available on the government relations web site. As always, status of all legislation considered by the 2002 Legislature, including actions by the governor, are available on the WSU government relations web site at
www.olympia.wsu.edu.
This update is shared by broadcast fax and electronic mail to friends of Washington State University as government developments occur. Contact Kevin Ketchie, WSU Government Relations specialist, 509/335-6292 to be added to the list. Call Larry Ganders at 360-956-2165; From WSU Campuses, Dial 8-2165. E-mail:
Ganders@energy.wsu.edu. To send
Larry an e-mail page at the capitol, write to Ganders@My2way.com.
Contact Jane Yung Dennie
at 425-373-9090. For federal issues, contact Kristi Growdon at 206-219-2424. For state bill status, budget updates, and other government info, visit our web page at
www.olympia.wsu.edu. Improvements have
recently been made in bill status tracking. Just go to our page and click on
"Status" in the left hand column.
